The hot topic in Croatia in recent days has been the record-breaking sold-out concerts at the Arena Zagreb, which was achieved by 28-year-old Serbian folk pop singer Aleksandra Prijović. Five consecutive concerts, for approximately 80 thousand people, is a respectable number that has made the entire Croatian public think. The “unsuitable contents” of the musical pot that had been simmering under the lid of modesty for years have now spilled out and left a burn mark on the musical taste of Croats. From clubs and cars, folk music walked the red carpet under bright spotlights to the Olympus of popularity.
No YouTube or streaming trending event illustrates success as explicitly as tens of thousands of people who pay a ticket to see and hear their favorite musician live.
Why did Aleksandra succeed where no one else had before , and why don't domestic singers break records for attendance at mega venues?
It is difficult to seek an explanation solely by analyzing the marketing mix, which, judging by the sales results of Aleksandra's concerts, combined a quality product tailored to the target audience, well-targeted distribution, or audience reach, properly targeted promotion, and a well-created price. A brief analysis of her career to date and the media's attitude towards music in Croatia and Serbia may provide the answer;
Aleksandra has swept the singers in Croatia in terms of marketing
Aleksandra released around 30 singles from 2017 to 2023, about 5 per year. That's a lot even by world standards, especially when you consider the extremely expensive production of the videos that accompany each song. The music production that positions each of her songs exactly where her team aimed – in clubs that bring considerable income to the singers who fill them – is also expensive.
Our musicians focus on radio and television broadcasts , which, due to the well-organized Croatian system of collecting and distributing funds from music broadcasting, bring in decent income, but incomparable with the financial gain from concerts that have long since crossed the borders of the Balkans. Namely, the ex-YU diaspora is a huge market that welcomes popular musicians from their homelands with open arms, and singers of folk, folk and pop music have always had the best sales.
For folk pop performers, such as Prijović, radio and TV are not the most important broadcast media. They attack from YouTube and streaming platforms, which are aimed at a younger audience that goes to clubs and listens to music via streaming services.
The bulk of promotional activities for the Arena project took place iran phone number data aggressively via online channels – YouTube and social networks, because it was a good assessment that the target audience's eyes were directed downward, to their mobile phones, and billboards and TV commercials were out of their field of vision.
How does Aleksandra stand on social platforms?
YouTube – 310K subscribers
Instagram – 736K followers
Facebook – 114K followers
Tik Tok – 62.5K Followers 2.3M Likes
Croatian music that dominates the mainstream media is pop that does not provoke in any way, and even our biggest stars do not tend to invest too much money in videos , so they are already losing the game to global and neighboring players when it comes to the showbiz side of the music industry. There is almost no new domestic music on television in attractive terms, as well as no glamorous television shows where musicians could present their new songs, while in the neighboring country, whose musicians regularly occupy the top of the trending charts in our country, everything is teeming with such formats that offer - briefly and clearly - entertainment.
The media in Serbia closely follows their musicians.
Numerous Serbian television stations and portals follow every step of their musicians, from whom they create stars, so they don't have to bother with the question of who to write and report about. They follow them at airports, at concert rehearsals, in front of the entrance to the TV studio, they constantly interview them, they create a scene. Every Croatian singer who works in both markets can testify to the different treatment he receives from our and their media. Domestic media indifference towards music reduces the audience's interest in their own music scene, which is not good for anyone, especially young artists who have yet to establish themselves with their music. One young star every few years with whom the media overwhelms the public space and then starts to get on everyone's nerves is a bad practice, and unfortunately there is no younger star in sight who could soon threaten Aleksandra's record. The only Croatian stars who can currently dare to give concerts in large halls are musicians who have been building their identity with hits for 20 or more years.
The path from television and radio to any concerts is long, as well as from clubs to large halls, and it does not happen overnight. Aleksandra was tempered as a girl in the format of a television singing competition by the powerful Serbian Grand production, with whom she signed a contract for many years, which obliged her to release songs for their record label and share the profits from all contracted work.